Lupin You
By the members of the DSP and Resistance in Adelaide
Friends and comrades of Lupin You (Seong Mi You) were devastated to hear of her death in a car accident on January 31. She was 28 years old. The accident occurred as Lupin was travelling from Adelaide to Darwin, where she planned to be active in the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) branch.
Lupin was involved in militant left politics at her university in Seoul, South Korea, before coming to Australia at the end of 1997. In Adelaide, she was attracted to the politics of the DSP and attended the party's educational conference in Sydney in January 1998. Inspired by its radical internationalism, she joined the party at the conference.
Lupin inspired her comrades with her willingness to learn, although difficulties with English forced her to concentrate on gaining language skills. During the following two years, she maintained contact with the party, attending the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference in 1998 and the party's national congress in 1999. She was always anxious to know what campaigns Green Left Weekly was leading.
Last November, Lupin expressed a desire to rejoin the party, saying she was "hungry for politics". She attended the Marxism 2000 conference in Sydney in January. She spoke of the inspiration she gained, particularly from the presence of a delegation from the Korean socialist group Power of the Working Class.
Lupin may not have realised how much she inspired us, especially when she stood with clenched fist raised singing songs of struggle with her Korean comrades at the January conference. In her two years in Australia, Lupin's confidence in the English language had grown, as had her understanding of Marxism.
Lupin was interested in all aspects of socialist politics, particularly women's liberation and international solidarity. She planned to visit Korea later this year to work with the Power of the Working Class.
The international socialist movement has lost a great potential leader and all those who knew her have lost a committed, fun-loving friend with a keen sense of humour and comradeship.